Watch how Shanna Van Maurik maps out her magical oil paintings in our new series Sketchbook
CBC Arts | Posted: March 11, 2021 6:15 PM | Last Updated: March 11, 2021
From line drawings to paper cutouts she uses to test placements, Van Maurik's sketchbook is a tale of process
What can you learn about an artist from paging through their sketchbooks? See the rough drafts, tossed-off ideas and intimate musings of some of Canada's most interesting artists in our self-shot series Sketchbook.
Artist: Shanna Van Maurik
City: Toronto
Medium: Oil paint
How she describes her work: "A daydream"
Most unusual thing in her sketchbook: Removable paper cutouts that she uses to test out placements on her canvases before painting the elements
Fun fact: Her instagram handle @nogobed is inspired by her childhood. As the youngest in her family, she would always have to go to bed the earliest — to which she would reply, "No go bed!"
Shanna Van Maurik is an oil painter from Toronto, Ontario. She calls her work "a daydream," blending fantastical elements with the real world for her large-scale pieces.
"To me, it always represents a place that doesn't exist, situations that don't exist," she explains. "Mixing a lot of different creatures and colours and animals that you normally wouldn't find."
In this video, you'll see Van Maurik's sketches turn into oil paintings and watch her sketch something from her latest personal series: expressive line-drawings of mushrooms.
Follow Shanna's artwork here.